BROOKINGS – Associate Professor Charles MacBride and Instructor Robert Arlt, faculty from the South Dakota State University Department of Architecture, have won the Brookings Mayor’s Sustainability Leadership/Innovative Best Practices Award for the Passive House project. The awards were announced July 31.
The house, at 902 Third Ave., started in fall 2016, when six graduate students designed it as part of an advanced studio. Construction on the house is nearly complete.
The Department of Architecture received a grant from the Governor’s Office of Economic Development in 2016 to help fund the construction. The plan is to have the sale of one house fund the construction of an ensuing project.
According to MacBride, the house is “the first of hopefully many student designed projects to come, all of them expected to challenge and exceed typical energy and construction standards.” He said the students “were responsible for technical and material specifications, establishing new project partners, working with the neighborhood and city, and the house design itself.”
The Brookings Mayor’s Sustainability Awards recognize excellence in sustainable practices demonstrated by local businesses, organizations and individuals, while promoting a culture of resiliency. Award winners contribute to a more sustainable city by embracing and promoting an approach to business and daily living that balances environmental responsibility, economic prosperity and community equity.
Other award winners are:
• Kool Beans Coffee and Roasterie, “Triple Bottom Line;”
• Pheasant Restaurant & Lounge, “Social/Quality of Life;” and
• 3M, “Environmental Resilience.”
The Mayor’s Sustainability Awards presentation will be held in conjunction with the Butler Human Rights Award, Human Rights Commission’s Youth Ally Awards, ABLE Awards, Mayor’s Awards for Historic Preservation and the Mayor’s Generational Leadership Award at McCrory Gardens Education & Visitor Center Aug. 30. The program begins at 6 p.m.
The public is invited to attend.
SDSU photo: Associate Professor Charles MacBride and Instructor Robert Arlt, faculty from the South Dakota State University Department of Architecture, have won the Brookings Mayor’s Sustainability Leadership/Innovative Best Practices Award for the Passive House project, shown in early July 2018.
